AEONS
"We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far." - HP Lovecraft History In the ending days of the Dark City there was a rampant desire within XER Tech to go further. Some of the scientists didn't know what this meant when their colleague preached it. Some thought that they should be better at their jobs or just push what is possible for humanity. However it would be nothing of the sort, it would be an evolution. Adelyn Red gave her blood to the scientists at XER TECH and they created their own subdivision. The AEON division was created at the company. No one really cared at all for it at the time besides the few fanatical engineers and scientists. They experimented with biomedical engineering to further enhance the human body. It is not surprising to say that the first few ''prototypes ''did not quite hit the mark. However it did not stop as they received more blood and funding as Eric Red, Adelyn Red's new husband, supplied them. Eventually they would reach the first working prototypes but they were just that, prototypes. Around half of the workers at the division felt that these prototypes were good enough and acceptable. However equally as many still feel that good enough is just adequate when they can do so much more. So the AEON division lost half of their staff as they feared the even more fanatics who were now consumed by their research. But the group did finish their magnum opus, their crowning achievement and they felt satisfied at that fact. Adelyn was not impressed by the great achievement and thus decided that the AEON division would work on a different project. Even the most fanatical of them had debates about leaving after Adelyn had told them what to do. She wanted them to build a virus to infect the Dark City to make the citizens AEON's. The project did not continue for a year as they division members argued about it morally. However when the Riots of 3160 hit did the researchers now fully invest themselves in the plan. Every day they kept working on the virus as the riots slowly kept defeating XER TECH security. When the rioters finally reached the center of the city did they release the virus upon the helpless crowds. The people did not turn into superhuman demigods that the researchers had planned on. They wanted to create a society of perfect humans as if everyone was greco-roman statues. They all felt extreme guilt as the virus consumed their body turning them into mindless abominations. 95% of the humans turned into proto-wretches which slowly died off and the remaining 5% lived on the fringes of the city. They continued down into the city deeper and deeper until they reached The Black Tower to take them to Earth. After reaching Earth did the humans find shelter in the old bunkers made long ago when Earth was infected with the virus. However the AEON's were killed and slowly sent back by the remaining XER Tech robot soldiers. Adelyn and her children descended down onto Earth much later through The Black Tower, making it her home. Now humans many thousands of years later fight from their bunkers against the Black Queen to retake their ancestral homeland. The AEON Processor The AEON Processor is what truly makes every AEON an AEON. Without it they would die immediately because of just how integral it is to their survival. The processor degrades all other organs in the hosts body and absorbs it. The processor will then grow from the size of a human heart to most of the hosts chest. It now acts as the Brain,heart,organs and soul of the user. In AEON's that are a Primus or Pupa then the SF is either put there forcibly or mutated into it. The processors main use is to create a substance called Propolis to enhance the host. Most AEON's require a high caloric intake and protein which can range between 10,000 to 100,000 calories needed daily. In turn this is turned into the slimy red substance called Propolis used to make the AEON's exoskeleton. It can also be used to strengthen and enhance muscle fibers to make AEON's much stronger and faster than any human and almost any augmented one. AEON blood is similar to humans and other mammals but has a few differences. First in that it's red blood cells are significantly larger than human ones and all other mammals. This is mostly to supply the astronomical amount of oxygen to the body. The processor acts as every other organ including the brain and by reducing the amount of work it has to do with larger arteries and blood cells makes it easier. This makes the blood very viscous like a thick oil. In the AEON's that are made for leadership it is not uncommon to see mutations on the processor. Some of these mutations are listed below. * Helminth Breeder: Large lightly skinned sac that contains capability to consume proteins/blood from the AEON to create Parasitic worms, these infect others to become loyal servants. * Pheromone Synthesizer: Builds strong invisible pheromones inside the Pale sac with purple veins and then excretes it through the skin. Easier to infect others, unable to be cured but fixed by not being around the specific pheromones. Loyalty produced is less than that of the Helminth * Hive Phlegm: A oily honeycomb in the processor that slowly builds up a strong flesh like mucus that is vomited out by the AEON to create Hive strains. Other AEONs that are not in that specific family will be repulsed by the smell. Types of AEONS Pupae Pupa also known as Transhumans, Prototypes are the humans that were alive near the end of the time of The Dark City. Infected with a bio engineered parasite they have control over their own musculature. They can shape,manipulate and even form new appendages,limbs,muscles and so on. However they are unrefined in their new abilities causing them to be quite weak in what they could potentially be. DAXTAR primarily hunts transhumans of which these AEONs are the highest degree of transhuman. However they would not last long as they are eventually all killed by DAXTAR agents. In the most basic sense they are barely even AEONs, just a proof of concept. It can be argued that the carapace is the defining characteristic of AEONs. Thus these Pupae don't truly count as being an AEON. However later Wretches are AEONs but they lack the carapace as well. Then one could possibly argue that it is the link to The Black Queen that makes an AEON. But then the Primuses who have a carapace are not involved at all with her. So at a base level the only thing that every AEON shares is the processor. Primuses The Primus is the first functioning AEON but none would actually be alive until after the virus infected the city. These early AEON's are the only type to not in any way be affiliated with the Black Queen along with the Pupa. For the most part they just use reverse engineered Ambrosia to build and enhance their bodies. The key part of the Primus is that is can mutate itself forcibly. All other AEON's lack the ability to grow new parts to supplement themselves. This makes the Primus a very formidable and deadly AEON. However there is only a few Primuses left in the entire solar system. The Primuses usually are in The Dark City as going down The Black Tower takes a long time. Not to mention that The Black Queen controls the tower making any travel nearly impossible. But there are some who have made it to Earth where they try and do their best to survive. For most Primuses they don't usually act feral and monstrous like the other members of their family. The stereotypical Primus is a stoic and contemplative person willing to wait centuries to enact his plans. They generally have great plans and endeavors that they have been scheming for an entire millennia or more. Some of them want to see the remnants of XER TECH turned to ash as revenge for becoming what they are. Some others blame the queen as she is responsible for all AEONs. However the most militant and the strongest of all are those that used to be DAXTAR agents. DAXTAR agents over their lives encountered the Ambrosia Virus in small traces slowly building up a resistance. When the virus broke out infecting everyone did a large percentage (10%) survive as Primuses. With the technical knowledge and training they had they hide in ancient buildings in the city looking for any time to enact justice. Wretches A wretch is the first AEON to be considered a true AEON by the Black Queen. Upon The Old World there existed trillions of human corpses and soul chips which were undamaged by the original Ambrosia Virus. When the queens flesh grew over them did the flesh take a human form and mind. However must wretches simply were born into madness and chaos. They lived as bestial monsters only acting on the most basic of human urges. This is all the queen wanted and thus was the beginning of AEONs that were loyal to the queen. Eventually the corpses of the old world would go away leaving no way to make more wretches. The queen created the Larval Queen's to further breed more wretches. Almost all wretches alive today come from a larval queen instead of a mutated human corpse from millennia ago. The distinction between different hives of wretches from various larval queens is not significant. Some hives have a specific quick such as horns or extended fangs but nothing to differentiate them at a glance. However about 10% of all wretches are not insane monsters but instead keep a human level intelligence. Which although against the queen's will does not cause her to eradicate them. The intelligent wretches usually devolve into civilized insanity with the various factions of them slaughtering,eating,enslaving each other. This is not at chaotic as she would want but it is good enough for her. This is however until some intelligent wretches begin making the Flesh Cult. The cult is an abomination to the queen and she would do everything in her power to destroy it if not for her decaying power by the time it came into existence. On the topic of a wretches biology are they actually fairly weak in comparison to the rest of the AEONs. A wretch is slightly stronger than a normal human and can regenerate most its body given enough time, about two days if all is left is its heart. However they all take the same vague human shape that is unarmored and can only be changed through the Flesh Cult. That 10% would slowly become 15,20 and finally 25% in 10,000 CE with the queen at the absolute lowest point of power. The world of chaos that she had wanted is coming to an end as prominent large cities of wretch rise up, larval queens begin expanding their hives and witches scheme in whatever shadows they may find. Larval Queens The Black Queen realized that the wretches of old were unsustainable and thus made the Larval Queens. Approximately a thousand created their own individual hives and for a while they did exactly what they were supposed to. Large worms that laid eggs which would later hatch in Wretches, however Varrick had another idea for them. Approximately half or more of them were infected by them and a disturbing twist was put onto them. A larval queen would infect a strong human male with an AEON Processor. The resulting children would take on genetic traits of their new "Father". However that was not what Varrick cared for and sometimes they would make an AEON called a Witch. The Witch now ventures outward to find a new human and ultimately become a new Larval Queen. This ultimately is all a larval queen does, they are important but simple creatures. If it was not for Varricks intervention they would be one of the least important AEON's in the grand scheme of things. They do not develop sapience like some other AEON's do, they are most similar to the queen's of ants and similar animals. Warlocks Warlocks are the husbands of Larval Queens and Witches, they are most similar to a Primus physically. Genetic variation in how their carapace develops is extreme in some cases. However they come into approximately four kinds of carapace with two kinds of material. Light,medium,heavy and super heavy are the four types of carapace they can grow, each proceeding one being rarer than the last. The carapace can be either bone or a bug like chitin, their is little practical difference. Rarity does not define strength, A skilled warlock in light carapace has a decent chance to defeat an unskilled medium or even heavy. It depends on how accustomed they are to their new bodies, some humans never truly accept it and are doomed to die early. Unlike their Primus counterpart they are must deal with the concept of Corruption. This is the first kind of infected human type AEON which has this. How deep the corruption run heavily depends on the user here. Warlocks are not the typical human and their stock is taken more from highly skilled social outcasts or physical marvels. The willpower to resist corruption is one of the biggest cues to their success. Even if a Warlock has the skill and strength to succeed if they cannot repress the base AEON tendencies they are nothing more than armored Wretches. Warlocks act as the guardians of their partner. Are infection it can take between ten and a hundred years for their carapace to fully grow over their body. The ones with larval queens usually have fully grown their carapace while the opposite is true for those with witches. However the as the carapace grows so does corruption meaning that the longer a warlock lives does his chance to succeed drop. The peak age for a warlock would be approximately 50, at that age their carapace is decently developed and the chance for corruption is lower. Witches Witches are the daughters of the god Varrick on a moral and religious level. Physically they are the daughters of a warlock and a larval queen. When a witch is born they are given to a priest, the priest sole job is to train her to eventually be The Black Queen. As the daughters of Varrick they have a very different idea of what it means to be AEON than Adelyn. The tenants of Varrick are love and violence, it is expected that their priest instills these values in them. The witches that express these values are given his blessing, which protects and guides them. However to express these values in the extremity that he desires is near impossible for some. The paths of all witches vary but at the end of their lives they will awake at the door of Varrick. Their deeds will be judged by him and if they are worthy of his affection they will be let into his home. However witches as said by Varrick should never act alone, they will be accompanied by a warlock. The witch will find a suitable human to infect and they will begin the transformation into a warlock. The witches most favored by Varrick treat their warlock as a husband. The ones despised by him are those who see their Warlock as a pawn to be used to acquire power. For the latter they will sacrifice mind and body to become a Larval Queen and fully attempt to become The Black Queen, just not in the way Varrick wishes.